Author: Hambardsumian Paul

NKR [Nagornyy Karabakh Republic] Foreign Minister Arman Melikyan and
OSCE official discuss conflict’s settlement

Arminfo, Yerevan
6 Apr 05

Stepanakert, 6 April: NKR [Nagornyy Karabakh Republic] Foreign
Minister Arman Melikyan received personal a representative of the OSCE
chairman-in-office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, at the NKR Foreign Ministry on
5 April.

The prospects for settling the Karabakh conflict and the situation
on the contact line between the armed forces of Nagornyy Karabakh
and Azerbaijan were discussed during the meeting, the press service
of the NKR Foreign Ministry reported.

The sides discussed also a number of other issues of mutual interest.

NATIONAL SELF-DETERMINATION UNION CONSIDERS POSITION OF ARMENIAN AND
ARTSAKH AUTHORITIES IN ISSUE OF SETTLEMENT OF LIBERATED TERRITORIES
SERIOUS DIPLOMATIC FAILURE

YEREVAN, APRIL 5, NOYAN TAPAN. During the April 2 session the
presidium of the National Self-Determination Union is to give
estimation to the “defeatist position” of the authorities of Armenia
and Artsakh in the issue of settlement of liberated territories.
Paruyr Hayrikian, Chairman of the National Self-Determination Union,
informed the journalists about this before the session. According to
him, submitting to anti-Armenian moods and dictates of propaganda,
the persons who by chance became the owners of important levers of
power in Armenia confirmed the “version of our predatory presence” on
international scale. According to Hayrikian, “instead of announcing
that we are immediately obliged to liquidate or reduce to minimum the
consequences of the Armenian Genocide, the obvious manifestation of
which became the extermination of Armenians in Nakhichevan, our
authorities, conceding to the appeals of anti-Armenian forces
heroically prove that Armenians aren’t engaged in the settlement of
territories, that they don’t care for pan-Armenian problems.” While,
according to him, the authorities should have called on the OSCE
fact-finding mission to check the situation also in the regions
formerly populated with Armenians, especially in Nakhichevan. Paruyr
Hayrikian also said that the National Self-Determination Union as an
organizer-initiator of settlement of territories estimates the
position of Armenian and Artsakh authorities in this issue as a
serious diplomatic failure.

ARMENIAN PM THANKS BELGIAN PARLIAMENT FOR A GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

   YEREVAN, APRIL 5, ARMENPRESS: Armenian prime minister Andranik
Margarian thanked today the parliament of Belgium for a resolution
condemning the Armenian genocide and told the speaker of the Belgian
House Representative, Herman de Croo that Yerevan expects Belgium’s
support in what is related to OSCE and NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s
reports on Armenia.
   Herman de Croo arrived in Armenia Monday on the first leg of his
regional visit. He will travel also to Georgia and Azerbaijan.
   Margarian was quoted by the government press office as saying that
Armenian president Robert Kocharian’s visit to Belgium in 2003 gave a
strong boost to development of bilateral relations.
   He also praised the Council of Europe, OSCE and NATO for their
efforts to bring peace and stability to the South Caucasus and
emphasized Armenia’s active participation in a range of projects,
supported by the European Union, which he said may have a positive
impact on the regulation of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict.
   Margarian and de Croo also spoke about the prospects for
normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations.

–Boundary_(ID_48r7BRNbekzT3Dae42gA2w)–

Call to lift bar on prisoners voting

Guardian, UK

Press Association
Monday April 4, 2005

A national campaign launched today to give prisoners voting rights
has won high-level political backing.

Former Tory home secretary Douglas Hurd and the Liberal Democrat
president, Simon Hughes, are supporting the Barred from Voting
campaign, which is demanding a review of 135-year-old laws stripping
inmates of their voting rights.

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, which is jointly
running the campaign with ex-offenders’ organisation Unlock, said:
“People are sent to prison to lose their liberty not their identity.

“Prison has an important job to do to prevent the next victim and
release people less, not more likely, to offend again. “Prisoners
should be given every opportunity to pay back for what they have done,
take responsibility for their lives and make plans for effective
resettlement and this should include maintaining their right to
vote. It’s time to stop pretending that people in prison don’t exist.”

Campaigners said the law was a relic from the 19th century – dating
to the 1870 Forfeiture Act – which is based on the notion of civic
death, a punishment that involves the withdrawal of citizenship rights.

The European Court of Human Rights last year ruled that the ban
violated article three of the European Convention on Human Rights
after British prisoner John Hirst took a case to Strasbourg. A
government appeal against the judgement is to be heard on April 27,
with a final ruling later this year.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Charles Kennedy, was accused by his
political opponents of being “soft on crime” four weeks ago when he
backed giving the vote to all prisoners, saying: “We believe that
citizens are citizens, full stop.”

The Barred from Voting campaign is also supported by Labour peer
Lord Corbett of Castle Vale, Liberal Democrat peer Lord Dholakia,
barrister Baroness Kennedy QC and former chief inspector of prisons
Sir David Ramsbotham.

Supporters argue that the right to vote is an “inalienable human
right” and that a voting ban does nothing to deter inmates from
crime. In fact, giving prisoners the vote would encourage them to
become responsible, law-abiding citizens, they add.

The chief executive of Unlock, Bobby Cummines, said: “Giving
prisoners the vote is a question of moral conscience, not political
conscience. If prisoners are excluded from voting then we don’t have
a democratic society, we are just paying lip service to one.

“The government must accept that prisoners remain citizens of this
country with legitimate human rights, including the right to vote.”

A campaign spokesman said only seven other European countries
automatically disenfranchise sentenced prisoners – Armenia, Bulgaria,
Czech Republic, Estonia, Luxembourg and Romania.

But Tory MP Ann Widdecombe said she was opposed to the move. “When
a judge has taken the decision that somebody’s crimes are of such an
order of magnitude that they need to be taken out of society then it
does seem perverse to hand that same person a say in how society is
governed,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

But Mr Ramsbotham said the law was anachronistic.

He said: “Prisoners remain citizens of this country. They have had
their liberty removed, that is the punishment, nothing else. They
haven’t had their citizens’ rights removed.”

Civil Georgia, Georgia

Armenian President Visits Georgia

Georgia, Tbilisi / 2005-04-01 12:49:49
President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan will pay an unofficial visit to
Georgia on April 1, Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia
Gela Bezhuashvili told reporters.

He said that bilateral and regional issues will be discussed during talks
between Armenian and Georgian Presidents.

Gela Bezhuashvili also said that the issue of Armenian community living in
Georgia, mainly in south-western region of Samtskhe-Javakheti will also be
discussed during the meeting between the two Presidents.

BATUMI, AKHALKALAKI RESIDENTS AGAINST RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES CLOSURE

2005-03-31

TBILISI, March 31 (RIA Novosti) – On Thursday actions of protest were
held in the cities of Batumi (Adzharia) and Akhalkalaki (on the
Georgian-Armenian border) against Georgia’s demand to withdraw the
Russian military bases from them.

The press center of the Supreme Council of the Adzharian autonomy
reports: up to 300 protesters from the Georgian People’s Patriotic
Front staged in Batumi a procession with posters demanding an end to
the anti-Russian policy.

“The peoples of Georgia and Russia are brothers forever. Nobody can
stand in the way of their friendship. The Georgian leaders should stop
campaigning for the bases’ withdrawal,” chairman of the Georgian
People’s Patriotic Front Zurab Gotsiridze told RIA Novosti on the
phone.

A similar action took place in the Samtskhe-Dzhavakhetia region and
Akhalkalaki. Local Armenians (about 400) gathered outside the House of
Culture demanding that the Russian bases’ withdrawal campaign be
stopped, journalists were told at the regional governor’s
administration.

Presently, two Russian bases – in Batumi and Akhalkalaki – are
remaining in the Georgian territory. In addition, the Russian group of
troops in Transcaucasia is headquartered in Tbilisi. The strength of
the Russian group in Georgia is about 3,000.

Georgia and Russia are holding intensive talks on the bases’
withdrawal. In the beginning of March, Georgian parliamentarians
passed the resolution On the Russian Military Bases in the Territory
of Georgia, which reads, “The military bases of the Russian Federation
are to be withdrawn from Georgia. Such is the will of the government
and the people of Georgia.”

This resolution sets the deadline for coming to an agreement – before
May 15, 2005. If no agreement is reached before May 15, the government
of Georgia is to take tough sanctions with regard to the activities of
Russian servicemen in Georgia, the resolution insists

AZERBAIJAN’S POLICY ON SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH PROBLEM IS IN ITS
RESOLUTION BY FORCE, SHAVARSH KOCHARIAN THINKS

YEREVAN, MARCH 30. ARMINFO. Now the policy of Azerbaijan concerning
the settlement of the Karabakh conflict is in its resolution by
force. Leader of opposition National-Democratic Party Shavarsh
Kocharian stated during the parliamentary hearings regarding Karabakh
problem.

The PACE Resolution on Nagorny Karabakh became a signal for resumption
of military operation, and the Azerbaijani oil is the pre-condition
for it, the parliamentarian thinks. To withstand the aggression of
Azerbaijan Armenia and Karabakh must implement structural reforms,
create pre-conditions for economic development and integration into
European structures. “Breaking the cease-fire regime Azerbaijan
solicits the international structures to press down on Armenia”,
Shavarsh Kocharian said. “Today the international community lays
conditions before Armenia on that to guarantee unsteady regime of
cease-fire is impossible, if the occupied territories are not
returned”, the deputy thinks, adding that the Armenian side will not
return the territories under any circumstances.

In his turn, Head of the faction of the Republican party Galoust
Sahakian stated that the Armenia side compromised as far back as 1994
signing the Bishkek treaty on cease-fire. “As a result of signing of
this agreement the northern districts of Nagorny Karabakh were
remained under the occupation of Azerbaijan”, he said. The deputy also
stressed that in the process of settlement of the Karabakh problem
Armenia is not an extraneous observer: “Any problem concerning Nagorny
Karabakh is a problem for the whole Armenian people”, he said.

`NATIONAL GALLERY’ MUSICAL FESTIVAL

Azg/arm
31 March 05

“National Gallery” musical festival organized by the State
Philharmonic Orchestra and National Gallery of Armenia will be held at
the National Gallery from April 6 to 18. People’s Artist of Armenia,
Svetlana Navasardian, the string quartet after Komitas, “Serenade”
chamber orchestra, “Hover” choir and the students of Vladimir
Spivakov’s fund will take part at the festival.

The opening ceremony will take place on April 6 at the Hall of Frescos
of the national Gallery. Suchlike festivals are usual for many
countries of the world – Russia, France, Germany, Austria.

Fresh ways of presenting traditional music pulls in the audience,
authors of the project, Garik Nazarian and Mariam Shahinian,
think. The spectators will enjoy 7 wonderful classic compositions in
beautiful Technicolor surroundings.

Arias from Mozart’s famous operas will open the “National Gallery”
festival. The organizers are sure that spectators will be fascinated
by the combination of tunes and colors.

Though the National Gallery was not designed as a concert hall, it has
good acoustics.

The Hayastan Pan-Armenian Fund and Yerevan Cognac Factory sponsor the
festival.

By Azganush Barsumian

CONCESSIONS CANNOT BE AVOIDED

A1+
29-03-2005

Â«We should have courage to say that the Nagorno Karabakh problem can be
settled by means of mutual concessions and talks with the participation
of all the conflicting partiesÂ», this opinion prevailed during today’s
NA hearings on the Karabakh issue.

The NA Speaker, Foreign Minister and Albert Bazeyan, who made a
contribution to the Artsakh liberation struggle, adhered to the opinion.
Vardan Oskanyan did not explain what he means by Â«concessionsÂ».
Â«Concession should occur during the negotiations. One thing I can say
for certain, we will not cede Karabakh and jeopardize security of its
populationÂ», he said.

THREAT TO THREAT

‘We are concerned but not afraid of Azerbaijan’s militaristic threats.
We are ready to repulse and probably the third attempt of the Azeris
will be the last oneâ€, Armenian Foreign Minster Vardan Oskanyan stated
today. He also said that the Azeris try to advance their positions at
the NKR border. In this situation conflicts can become more frequent.

Â«We are concerned over the latest statement by Aliyev, who does not
admit concessions in the settlement of the problem. This approach will
lead to no good. The Karabakh problem does not have a military
resolutionÂ», Vardan Oskanyan stated.

PROPAGANDA LOSES

Today political forces of Armenia assure that Armenia has yielded the
information battle to Azerbaijan. In the words of opposition deputy
Stepan Zakaryan, even the murder of Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest was not
presented properly to the international community. Â«If the propaganda
were correct, Russian would be that the Azerbaijani, who slashed to
death a sleeping man is analogous to a Chechen soldier and Americans
would see that the Azerbaijani is like those who killed captives in
IraqÂ». Upon completion of the hearings a collection which will contain
statements and opinions will be issued.

Turks seek a fresh look at past
By Nicholas Birch

Washington Times, DC
March 26 2005

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

ISTANBUL — A hidden Armenian minority, after living in the shadows
for decades, is coming forward to tell stories of a 1915 massacre in
books and newspapers, and prompting Turkey to re-examine its past.
A group of senior politicians from Turkey’s governing and main
opposition parties last week called for the events of 90 years ago to
be “researched under United Nations arbitration.”
“If there is a need to settle accounts with history, we are
ready,” they said.

Next month, Armenians all over the world will mark the 90th
anniversary of the massacres — an event that successive governments
in Turkey have denied took place.
Fethiye Cetin was a student when she discovered her grandmother
Seher’s secret.
Seher, a pillar of a typical Turkish family, had been born an
Armenian named Heranush, and was 9 years old when the massacres
started in 1915.
She cowered in the churchyard as men from her village were slain
and thrown into the river.
Forced with other women and children onto the road to Syria, she
was abducted and handed over to a police corporal. He raised her as
his own child.
Such tales are common in Turkey’s eastern provinces. Locals
called people like the grandmother “those the sword left behind.”
What makes her story unusual is that the granddaughter made it
into a book.
“She had hidden the things she told me for over 60 years,” said
Miss Cetin, a lawyer who works from a small office in Istanbul. “I
felt they needed to be given a voice.”
But she also wanted to help move the debate away from barren
disputes over terminology and statistics: 300,000 killed? 800,000
killed? 1 million killed? Genocide? Ethnic cleansing? An unfortunate
side effect of civil war?
Such arguments, she said, “hide the lives and deaths of
individuals and do nothing to encourage people to listen.”
Turks certainly have been listening to her. Published in
November, “My Grandmother” is already into its fifth edition.
Miss Cetin has lost count of the number of phone calls and
letters she has received, of support, or from people with similar
stories to tell.
“When books like this come out, even people with very different
family histories begin to realize they aren’t the only ones to
question what they have been taught,” she said.
Miss Cetin first published a summary of her grandmother’s history
in an Istanbul-based Armenian newspaper in 2000. The article was
ignored. “I could not have published my book back then,” she said.
In January, an Istanbul gallery hit the headlines with an
exhibition of 500 postcards showing Turkish Armenians between 1900
and 1914.
“The history taught in schools is told as if only Turks had ever
lived in Anatolia, no one else,” curator Osman Koker told reporters.
“That is deeply unhealthy.”